LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1979, Page 22

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22 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

tion and Credentials reported that no formal objections
challenging registered delegates had been received.

Standing Rules

Dr. Herbert Mueller, Secretary of the Synod, pre-
sented the proposed special standing rules for the
convention to the delegates. They appear on page 8 of
Today’s Business. After hearing them, the delegates
adopted these rules as presented and as attached to the
official copy of the minutes.

Greetings

Dr. Herbert Mueller reported that greetings had been
received from the Lutheran Church of Finland.

Constitutional Matters

Chairman Arnold Kuntz of the Floor Committee on
Constitutional Matters presented Res. 5-01, 5-02, 5-03,
and 5-04 (7B117—118) to the delegates. By adopting the
resolutions, the congregations of Gloria Dei, Escondido,
Calif., Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, Minn.,
Shepherd of the Desert, Page, Ariz., and Zion Evangeli-
cal Lutheran, Whitehall, Mont., were received into
membership in the Synod.

President’s Report

President Preus began his report by pointing out

that the first section of it had been presented to the floor
committees at an earlier meeting and was printed in the
first issue of Today’s Business. He continued his report
by giving thanks to all those who have served the Synod
in any way, since the church lives by the collective work
of all of its members rather than simply by the work of a
few. He expressed special thanks to Dr. E. C. Weber,
First Vice-President of the Synod. Dr. Preus pointed out
that in his opinion, based on observations, the morale of
the Synod appears to be better than it has for a long
time. The desire to enter open doors is greater than it has
ever been. During the past biennium 217 congregations
have elected to leave The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod and have been accompanied by 350 pastors. Dr.
Preus expressed regret for anything which may have
wrongly caused them to leave and asked for their
forgiveness. On the other hand, over 6,000 congregations
have explicitly or implicitly said they would remain
with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Much of
this is due to at least three factors. First, during this
period of time 55 pastoral conferences sponsored by the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations were
attended by over 50 percent of the pastors of the Synod.
These conferences were instrumental in bringing about
a unified understanding. Second, the 1978 District
elections were an important factor. Third, after a period
of stress the Synod seems to have overcome its identity
problems.

Continuing his report, President Preus pointed out
that this convention is to be a missions convention.
That means it is not simply to be passing pious resolu-
tions and then to go home. More must be done. He
complimented the Floor Committee on Missions for its
resolutions with challenging goals. The accomplish-

ment of these goals will cost money, and therefore a
proposal has been made that The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod should raise $40 million for this purpose.
Dr. Preus expressed the hope that the resolution regard-
ing this special offering would pass unanimously. Con-
tinuing his report, Dr. Preus pointed to the achieve-
ments but also the work which remains to be done in the
areas of Black mission work, the Hispanic program,

-work among Orientals and native Americans.

Changes which are taking place in the Church
Extension Fund were referred to as well as the fact that
the Church Extension Fund program is now moving
into the foreign area, helping partner churches establish
such programs. Delegates were urged to support the
resolutions dealing with the structure of the Church
Extension Fund.

In his report Dr. Preus referred to the work in social
ministry, an arm of the church which must reach all
people in any need in word and deed, to the youth work
which is being carried on and to the youth convention
which will be held in Colorado next year, to the area of
parish services, which reports the highest number of
persons attending Bible classes in 135 years, and to
Concordia Publishing House, which will be celebrating
its 110th anniversary of existence.

In the area of stewardship finance and planning, Dr.
Preus stated that there is good news and bad news. Last
year over $400 million was gathered for all purposes.
This is good. However, there is a distribution problem.
Since 1965 giving has increased 104%, but each year the
funds which remain within congregations and Districts

increase. At the present time there is a synodical deficit
of $2.9 million. The ‘delegates were asked to consider
remembering Synod when their congregational budgets
are established and to determine their priorities.

In the area of higher education it was reported that
two colleges have achieved four-year status during the
past biennium and that there are record enrollments at
the seminaries. However, there is a need for increasing
the salaries of professors at higher educational institu-
tions and for filling the colleges and seminaries, which
have 9,000 student stations but only 6,000 enrolled. He
asked each pastor and delegate to serve as a one-man
recruiting team to fill all student stations.

The delegates were urged to adopt the hymnbook
which is being presented to the convention. A report
was also given on inter-Lutheran relationships and
discussions being carried on with various church bodies.
Dr. Preus urged that the present relationship with The
American Lutheran Church be continued, as well as the
membership in LCUSA. Delegates were asked to sup-
port resolutions for the development of an indigenous
Lutheran Church of Canada and partner-church status
for the Brazil District.

Dr. Preus closed his report by pointing out that God
has opened doors for us. The question is, Do we have the
spiritual and moral fiber to enter those doors? He stated
that there are two things which he feels need improve-
ment. First, we must learn the forgiveness of sins and its
importance. Second, there should be less criticizing and

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